


Retrograde

by tacendaparker16



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Bad Puns, Eventual Relationships, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra (Marvel), I'm Bad At Tagging, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark Coparenting Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) Needs a Hug, Original Character(s), Other, POV Third Person, Peter Parker is Trying His Best, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Post-Battle of New York (Marvel), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Avengers, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Protective Steve Rogers, SHIELD, Superfamily (Marvel), Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28578075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tacendaparker16/pseuds/tacendaparker16
Summary: On all aspects, Leah was average. Just average. That’s that. And she was content with that.But when a sudden move to New York City brings about one Peter Parker, her life begins to change rather quickly. From new friends to decathlons to internships, Leah's life never hesitates to get crazier. Especially when she knows her best friend is hiding something.What she doesn't know is why he's hiding it.--------"Ya know, Parker, cheesy science pun t-shirts and endless caffeine trips can't save you from your responsibilities.""Yeah, but they sure do help numb the pain!"
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Reader
Kudos: 10





	1. The Phone Call

Leah was never known for anything out of the ordinary.

She had two loving parents, a protective older brother, a good friend group, a loving aunt and four healthy grandparents. 

She had never had any traumatic events. No mental health issues, nothing that made her feel the way she knew some others did in comparison. 

She had relatively good grades in school but wasn’t a nerd. She was good at sports, but not an athlete. She was a pretty good singer, but never got to be the star of the show. 

On all aspects, Leah was average. Just average. That’s that.

And she was okay with that. She was content. 

_Content._ Adjective. _In a state of peaceful happiness. A state of satisfaction._

And that was it. Leah was satisfied. 

She was normal. 

And what was wrong with that? 

Well, the answer is nothing. But Leah didn’t mind it this way. She was content with her life in a small town of Ohio, Yellow Springs, just outside of Springfield. Her whole family lived there, all except for her aunt. Aunt Audrey was a teacher at Midtown School of Science and Technology, in the Fine Arts department. She had abandoned her days as a cellist to teach, claiming it was her passion. Although, she now spends her days teaching a music class at the advanced high school, a combination of two of her three favorite things. 

What was the third? Well, the third thing was Leah. Audrey was unable to have children and hadn’t found a partner in years after her fiancé had passed away in the Battle of New York. He had been a worker at Stark Industries, supposedly in the IT Department, and that was all that was known of him. All Audrey got when she had heard of her fiancé’s death was a slim manila file with one paper in it: this paper contained no more than his name and address, basic information, and that of Audrey’s. No more was ever known about his death. 

Leah had only met him once, at a family Thanksgiving dinner reunion. His name was Phil, he seemed nice. He had even shown her some of his Captain America trading cards. He seemed proud of them, so Leah pretended to be as well. 

Now those same cards sat on Audrey’s dresser, now covered in what appeared to be his blood, next to a picture of the two. Well, that and the engagement ring he had left behind on her finger, just mere days before his passing. 

But that was years ago; and now things were different. Audrey was finally over her loss, and thriving more than ever before. She loved her teaching job, almost as much as she loved Leah. 

So that’s what immediately rang through Leah’s mind when she got a call at 2:47 pm on a Friday, just as school was letting out for the weekend. Leah answered the phone and held it up to her ear as she stepped outside into the cool, crisp fall air, leaves crunching beneath her feet. 

Leah soon stopped after she heard what her aunt had said, though. 

There, right in the middle of the street, she heard it. Or, at least, she thinks, hopes, she heard her aunt correctly. 

_“What?”_ Leah said, a deadpan expression on her face, her voice emotionless. She didn’t want to carry false hope. 

“Yeah babes, you heard me right. I can get you accepted; you could come out here with me for a while. Besides, your parents’ hands are full enough with that football-obsessed brother of yours,” Audrey said, huffing out a laugh before continuing. 

“If you want to the opportunity is open, I’ve already talked with your mom and she said it’s fine. I’ve always had that sister wrapped around my little precious finger,” She said over the phone, huffing out another laugh to signal she was joking. She did actually, in fact, love her little sister. 

“So, babes, you up to it?” Leah heard her aunt’s voice ring from the opposite side of the phone. Or, at least, she thinks she heard it. Everything was in a daze, a pure state of ecstasy. 

A car horn honked suddenly right in front of her, impatiently waiting for Leah to stop standing in the middle of the cramped street. Leah quickly scurried to her brother’s car before speaking up again. 

“Uh, y-yeah, of course I’m in. I-I’m in!” Leah exclaimed finally, pushing the words out as best as possible in the midst of her confused and excited daze, before getting into her brother Aaron’s car, which was parked in the senior section as usual. 

Leah hung up the phone after saying her goodbyes to Audrey and turning to her brother, an expression of mixed shock and exasperation painted across her face. 

“What’s up with you, bean?” Aaron asked. Leah rolled her eyes at the childhood nickname before finally gaining the ability to speak, pushing the words out of her mouth as best and controlled as possible. 

“I’m moving to New York,” she said. 

Her brother paused for a moment, his face now full of confusion and disbelief. Finally, he spoke up. 

_“Okay, what the fu-“_


	2. The Move to New York (and other Occurrences)

Her bags were already being packed when she walked in the door. Boxes were everywhere, littered throughout the entryway of the mid-sized town home. 

“Hi, sweetie! You must be so excited!” Leah’s mom said enthusiastically, making her way to her daughter, carefully navigating through the minefield of cardboard scattered haphazardly across the floor. 

“Wait, you knew about this? For how long?” Leah said in disbelief. 

“Well, your aunt told me about a week ago. The school she teaches at… Midtown, I think? Oh well, anyways, they’re accepting new students for this STEM program. Aaaaand your aunt was able to get you a spot! Isn’t that great? With this on your resume, those colleges will be practically _begging_ to have you in their classes!” Her mom, Linda, said exasperatedly. 

“Wow, yeah, that’s great. Really,” said Leah, the shock still not having a chance to wear off yet. 

“Well, you leave Sunday. Let’s go pack then, shall we?” Linda said before leading her daughter up the stairs to her room to help her get packed for the sudden, exciting move. 

\------------------ 

The drive from Ohio to Queens was long, but it did give Leah some time to process exactly what was happening. _Holy shit, this is actually real,_ she thought to herself. 

About six and a half hours into the nearly ten-hour car ride, the family stopped at a small diner for lunch. It was at this point that it dawned on Leah what exactly she had agreed to; moving ten hours away from her family as a sophomore, only to see them every once in a while? I mean, she was only fifteen and a half. 

It was also at this point, when her brother leaned in to ruffle her hair, and her mom rest her hand on Leah’s own, and her dad stared at her lovingly that she realized just how much she’d _miss_ them. 

After their brief lunch hiatus, time seemed to fly by faster than ever before. The family made the turn off the highway and into Queens just as her and her brother wrapped up their lip-syncing battle over _Mr. Brightside._

It was only a few more short minutes before they arrived at her Aunt Audrey’s apartment, and Leah went out to greet her aunt warmly. They gave each other a ginormous hug, then turned back towards the car to begin unpacking Leah’s belongings. 

It took a while, but once the family was done it was time to say their goodbyes. Leah went up to her parents first to bid them farewell and thank them one last time for this amazing opportunity. 

Lastly, Leah turned to her brother. They looked at each other for a while, neither of the two knowing just what to say. Finally, after a pause just slightly too long, they both spoke up at the same time. 

“I-,” they both blurted out, each voice overlapping the other. 

“You go first,” said Leah. 

Aaron paused for just a moment more before continuing. 

“I’m just really gonna miss you, bean. Have a great time. And take care of yourself, would you? I know how you don’t exactly always have good self-preservation skills, so just don’t be an idiot, k?” 

“’’kay,” said Leah, all teary-eyed and sniffling by now. 

“I will, I promise.” 

“Alright. See ya ‘round, bean.” 

And with that, Aaron joined the rest of the family in the car. 

With one last wave from all of them combined, they left. Just like that. 

Leah watched for a few moments as the family drove off before turning back to her aunt. Only this time, it wasn’t her aunt’s eyes she was staring into. A pair of big, brown doe eyes stared back into hers, sparkling deep chocolate in the cool sunlight of the urban neighborhood. Gentle brown curls cascaded over his forehead, just barely reaching his eyebrows. 

The two stood there, frozen, unsure of what to say. Thankfully, before things got too awkward, Audrey stepped in. 

“Leah, this is May, she’s a good friend of mine and lives right across the street from us. And this is her nephew, he attends Midtown and is in your grade. His name is- well, I think he can introduce himself.” Audrey said with a smile. 

The boy spoke up awkwardly, a shy, nerdy smile clear on his face.   
“H-hi, I’m Peter, Peter Parker.” 

_Oh shit,_ Leah thought to herself. This was definitely not going according to plan.


	3. The Parker Boy

Leah stared into the boy’s deep doe eyes, seemingly frozen in time. Her vision traced over his face until it grazed his cheekbone, where she noticed a large, blooming bruise that sliced across his soft yet surprisingly defined cheekbone. The boy seemed to follow her gaze, because he consciously rubbed his thumb lightly over the plum-colored mark. At this, Leah collected herself and shook her head to regain a clearer picture of her surroundings. Finally, after what seemed like years, she spoke up, returning the boy’s salutation. 

“H-hi, I-I’m Leah,” she said awkwardly, a shy smile on her face. 

The boy named Peter beamed back at her. 

Then his aunt spoke up. 

“It’s very nice to meet you, sweetie. We’re very excited to get to know you more,” she said warmly, a kind smile on her face as she stepped forward and placed a hand on her nephew’s shoulder. She then raised her other arm to point to a building, a window, directly across from her own. 

“that’s our apartment, and you can feel free to walk with Peter here to school in the morning. I’m sure you’ll need to know your way around, won’t you?” 

Leah blushed. She pretended not to notice that Peter had, too. 

“Yeah, that sounds great actually,” she said finally, matching May’s enthusiasm. 

“Great!” May clapped her hands together, her smile growing impossibly wider. 

“Well, let’s go on up to my apartment, get things settled. Shall we? After you, Leah,” her aunt piped up in her usual peppy tone before opening the doorway to the apartment complex and motioning for the others to come inside with one long swoop of her arm.

\--------------- 

It took a while for the group to unpack everything and get her settled, but once they did they all headed into the small kitchen near the entrance to the apartment. Aunt Audrey offered the group some tea, and everyone accepted graciously. Audrey began getting out the tea bags and distributing the hot water into each mug, whilst May turned to Leah, the same gleeful smile still front and center on her youthful face.   
“So, Leah, are you excited to be starting at Midtown? Have you thought about joining any clubs or sports?” May said in a cheery tone. 

“Oh, no, I’m actually not really that into sports. I’m more academic, and really into science.”

At these words, Peter seemed to suddenly perk up. 

“Really? Well I-I’m in the Academic Decathlon at school, and we’re looking for a new member ever since Liz left… you don’t know who that is, sorry,” Peter, finally realizing how caught up he was in his own nervous excitement, mumbled that last part before continuing. 

“Well, anyways, if you’re into science it would be perfect for you and we’d love to have you there. We have a practice this Thursday if you’d wanna come- or, y’ know, you don’t have to, it’s totally fine I completely understand if you don’t wanna come or-“ before Peter could ramble on any more, Leah spoke up. “I’d love to, Peter.” She said with an endearing smile. Peter blushed and went silent. 

“Sooo, is there anything else you hope to see here in New York?” May asked excitedly. 

“Um… well, not really. I mean, I’ve seen all the attractions. I even got to go into Stark Tower once a few years ago with Phil-“ Leah glanced at her aunt, who’s expression had changed to one of somberness, and decided to switch the topic.

“But I still haven’t seen one thing- or, person- yet,” Leah spoke, hastily changing the topic as to avoid upsetting her aunt. May and Peter listened intently, now holding their piping hot cups of tea. 

“There’s this guy my aunt was telling me about- ‘Spider-Man’, I think? Anyways, I think it might be cool to spot him some day while I’m here. Not every day you see a vigilante swinging from the skyscrapers above you,” Leah chuckled. At this statement, Peter tensed up; he gulped, blushing wildly, before hastily sipping on his tea. As he did so, Leah took another look at his cheekbone, the same one from earlier that afternoon. Only now, the bright violet tint had receded, seemingly returning to its natural color. Hell, you couldn’t even tell it had ever been there in the first place. She subconsciously frowned, before realizing her actions and quickly retaliating. 

May, however, had a completely different reaction. Her smile grew impossibly wider, before she piped up yet again. 

“Oh, wouldn’t that be a nice experience! I’ve seen him a couple of times, he’s great with little kids. Oh, honey, trust me, you’ll get to see him. He seems to be around these parts a lot,” May said that last part with an inquisitory tone, her expression changing to one of wonderous confusion as her eyes darted towards her nephew briefly, smirking, before she snapped out of her own thoughts and returned to the conversation at hand. “Well anyways, trust me sweetie, you’ll love it here.” 

Leah simpered, nodding gently in agreeance. And as she glanced again towards the young Parker boy, she pretended not to notice his flushed expression at the topic. She guessed she’d probably find out the reasoning for his sudden change in mood later on.

Oh, and how right she was. Just not in the way she ever possibly thought.


	4. First Day Jitters

Monday came quickly, and Leah soon found herself rolling out of bed, the blaring of her alarm pounding at her eardrums. The flaxen haired girl groaned as she rolled to the side, shifting her position upright to silence the demonous machine that _dared_ disturb her slumber. 

Getting out of bed and hopping into the shower, Leah washed quickly before drying off and brushing her teeth. She put on her new outfit, the one her aunt had bought her for her first day at her new school, and quickly combed and tied up her hair. 

Just before exiting her room, she looked into the full-length mirror to examine her features one more time. _'Everything has to be perfect,'_ she told herself. 

The girl wore a white beanie with a red crewneck, dark denim jeans and a gray-white flannel around her waist. Leah chose to complete her look with a pair of clean white Vans, fresh from the store back in Ohio her mom had taken her to just before she left for her life in New York. A gold necklace rested gracefully around her neck, with a pair of small gold hoop earrings to match. 

She took one last deep breath to calm her nerves before walking out the door and into the kitchen for breakfast. 

\--------------------- 

The girl stepped outside her apartment complex to find the now familiar curly-haired boy standing just outside her door. When he noticed her, he perked up, his eyes growing wide as he took in her presence. 

“Hey!” Peter said, his face lighting up as he did so. 

“Hey,” Leah replied, matching his enthusiasm. 

The sweet, bubbly boy seemed to perk up impossibly more at her response. “Are you ready for your first day of school here?” He asked her sweetly. 

“Eh, yeah, I guess. Just a little nervous,” Leah replied, a shy smile making its way across her face. 

“Well you’ll do great, don’t worry. You’ll fit in fine, trust me,” Peter beamed. 

And Leah didn’t know if it was his beaming smile, or his positive attitude, or his bubbly personality, or those god-forasken _deep doe eyes,_ but something about him made her want to believe his words of reassurance.   
\--------------------------   
The pair arrived at the entrance to the subway station near downtown just as the clock struck 7:30. As they made their way down the stairs, green railings lining their path, Peter turned to Leah with a sudden inquisitory expression. 

“You don’t have your subway pass yet, do you?” said Peter, more of a statement than a question. Leah stared blankly. 

“I don’t even know how it works,” she laughed. Peter smiled and chuckled in response. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll show you. You can use my pass for today, or ‘till you get your own.” Said Peter, smiling brightly. 

\---------------------------- 

The subway ride went well, and soon enough the pair made it to Midtown High. Peter took Leah to the office to pick up her schedule before helping her find her locker. 

“Looks like you’re right next to mine,” Peter said happily. Suddenly, a forced deep voice came from behind him. 

“Join me, and together we can build my new Lego Death Star.” 

Peter spun around faster than Leah could react. When she collected herself, she noticed him staring directly into the eyes of a slightly larger and taller boy with dark brown hair and a wide smirk plastered across his face. 

“What? No way! How many pieces?” he rambled on excitedly. The larger boy began rattling on for about a minute or so before Peter suddenly stopped him, remembering Leah’s presence. He turned towards the girl and gestured towards her while looking back and forth between his two friends. 

“Ned,” he sighed, “this is Leah. She’s new to Midtown. This is Audrey’s niece.” At Peter’s last statement, the larger boy’s eyes lit up. “Audrey? As in, Audrey across the street from your apartment? May’s friend?” He spoke excitedly. 

“Yep, that’s the one.” Peter replied, popping the ‘p’. 

“No way! I love your aunt! She always makes us brownies,” the boy exclaimed excitedly. Leah smiled brightly. 

“Yep, those are her specialty!” she beamed. 

“I’m Ned,” the boy said, holding out his hand for her to shake. She took it gratefully and shook it before speaking up again. 

“I’m sorry to intrude, but did I hear you say you had the Lego Death Star?” Leah said cautiously, hiding her excitement. Ned’s face lit up almost immediately after the words left her mouth. 

“NO WAY! YOU LIKE STAR WARS TOO?!” Ned exclaimed a little _too_ loudly, causing Peter to wince. 

“Ned, watch the volume, dude,” he said through gritted teeth whilst cupping his hands over his throbbing ears. Ned gasped softly, clearly sorry. 

“My bad dude, I’m really sorry! I just forget sometimes.” Peter nodded in forgiveness and Ned spoke up again, this time much softer. His voice became hushed as he leaned in to his best friend. 

“So, I saw the news last night. It looked pretty rough out there, how was the, uh… how was the _internship?_ ” Ned spoke, his voice becoming softer each word, barely at a whisper by the time he was nearly finished. 

“Yeah, it was fine. I had it covered. Not here, though,” Peter hushed back. Ned nodded. 

“Sorry.” 

“You’re fine.” 

The two turned back to Leah, suddenly remembering she was there again. Leah stared at them, confused for a moment, before brushing off the interaction. The two boys seemed grateful, and carried on with it. 

“So, ready to go to your first class? I think we all have first period Chem together,” Peter sighed, a light smile gracing his lips. 

“Yeah,” Leah said smiling. 

\----------------------- 

The trio walked out of their Chemistry class together, headed for English. 

“Hey, that question you answered in there was really good!” Peter gestured back to the now empty classroom. 

“With a brain like that I should see if I could get _you_ a Stark Internship,” the boy laughed, nudging Leah gently with his elbow. The two laughed and made their way to their next class.

**Author's Note:**

> New chapters out soon! 
> 
> (It gets better, I promise. ;) 
> 
> Please comment kindly! Let me know what you think :)
> 
> also you could... uhhh.. idk, maybe leave kudos? Just a WhAcKy thought... *hint hint, wink wink*
> 
> Okay, I think that's all for now. Love ya to Stark Tower and back! :) <3


End file.
